The Western New England University Golden Voice talent competition was held recently in Rivers Memorial Hall to the delight of an enthusiastic audience of students and staff. Ten talented University students energized the audience with each performance and gave the panel of outstanding judges a difficult challenge in selecting the final winners. The judges included Director of Public Safety Adam Woodrow, Associate Dean of Students Maureen Keizer, Psychology Clinician Adithyan Rajaraman, and University President Anthony S. Caprio.

The judges chose first, second, and third place winners from the 10 students who competed, while a Fan Favorite winner was determined by the audience members. Asika Etuka, a junior Health Sciences major, won the hearts of the audience and stole the Fan Favorite vote. First Place was awarded to freshman Jacob Glass, a Criminal Justice Major, Second Place went to junior Caroline Andros, a Criminal Justice major, and third to French exchange student Anna Gozlan, a junior General Business major.

The Golden Voice competition event is sponsored by the University’s student-run Golden Bear Television (GBTV). The Golden Voice is an iconic event at the University, and this year it included a raffle for GBTV t-shirts and a surprise performance by the University student Drumline group. Jesse Walters, president of the Improv on the Rocks group and a senior Computer Science major, seamlessly hosted the show by keeping the audience laughing and energized throughout the evening.